Read full description of the books:

Schnabel reminded me of a modern-day inverted detection story: most of us know what happened to Anne, as it could be found in her diary, but Schnabel provides the details from the other important characters in Anne's life. Schnabel retraces Anne's life through the lives of the living people Anne has left after the war, and asks them of their version of her story.

Heroism is not limited to nationalities: for example, people like Johannes Kleiman, known in Anne's diary as Koopfuis were lights of goodness against the overwhelming maw of Nazi evil. It's to Schnabel's credit that he illustrates the fact that occasionally, good is just as nameless as evil. A baker, for example, who didn't know of Anne or her family allowed Koopfuis to borrow bread even though he couldn't actually pay for the excesses.